Page 44 - 2022 July Report

July Report 2022
Governance & Nominating Committee minutes (draft)
June 8, 2022
Members Present:
David Blaikie, Bill Corwin, Malcolm Macleod, Mike Miller, Bobby Krause (non-voting)
Others Present:
Sharon Wood
Bill chaired the meeting.
Bill explained that the purpose of this meeting was to look at the upcoming needs of the Foundation in terms of Directors. He noted that bringing Mike Miller on the Board several years before Hugh Brown’s retirement had been a commendable example of great forethought. That had allowed Hugh to serve as a mentor to Mike as Mike learned about the Foundation and its operations. It seems prudent to look at potential Directors now while there is no pressing need to fill any gaps in the skills and knowledge of the Board.
Malcolm reminded the Committee that nearly a dozen years ago, Heidi Jordan’s name had been added to the potentials list because of her depth of understanding of disabilities issues. At the time, she was working at Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, plus she is the daughter of King Jordan who was, at that time, a sitting Director. She has left FSDB and moved to a school in Tennessee, and King, although a valuable consultant, is no longer on the Board. It might be time to request an updated resume from her.
Two strong contenders on the list are Leslie Pendleton and Angelique Albert. Bobby has had an opportunity to meet both women and is a fan of both. Both women are working for current JSF grantees. Bobby noted that Leslie, who was leading the Machen Opportunity Scholars program at the University of Florida, has recently moved to the UF Development Office. Angelique is the Executive Director of Native Forward Scholarships Fund (fka American Indian Graduate Center).
David noted that Cathy Yanosik is also a strong candidate with experience in disadvantaged programing as the former Development Officer of Pathways to Education - Canada. Malcolm had worked with her quite extensively in the years that the Foundation cultivated a relationship with Pathways and found her quite impressive. Bill had an opportunity to meet her during dinner at the Board’s Toronto meeting in March. Mike said that she is currently the Development Officer at a very prestigious, expensive private school.
Bobby asked if there has ever been any consideration to the balance of US vs. Canadian citizens on the Board. The Board has been pretty evenly divided, though the majority of the grants are in the US. Consensus was that this is a secondary concern with more important issues like skill sets, experience, alignment with JSF values, compatibility, etc. That said, with three pretty good candidates in Heidi, Leslie and Angelique, maybe now is not the time to pursue Cathy.
Mike remembered that Rick Williams had mentioned a woman he really respects. Neither Mike nor Bobby could remember the name but did recall that she lives in California.
Bill directed the discussion towards the matter of conflicts of interest for people affiliated with JSF grantees. It was pointed out that it is not a totally bad thing, since those are the people we already know and are likely the ones who have contacts with others in their field. The general feeling was that it could be manageable to have a Director with a conflict of interest. That person would just have to be excused from any discussion/vote regarding that grantee. It was pointed out that it would not be wise to have a lot of Directors with conflicts, but 1 or 2 should be doable. The bottom line is not that the conflicts of interests exist, but how they are handled.
The discussion turned back to the most immediate needs for the Board. It was noted that Sherry will be up forre-electionnextyearforhopefullyanother3yearterm. RickWilliamswillbeleavingtheFoundationas a consultant, but likely over the course of the next year. Now might be a good time to be proactive about bringing on someone Indigenous. Malcolm pointed out that we have a large pool of people through the
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